Thirty-six hours
by Arikae
Summary: Episode tag to 'Thirty-six hours'. Colby didn't come out of the train wreck as healthy as he did when he went in.


**Author's note: Episode tag to season 5 episode 8; Thirty-six hours. It was pointed out by TheNaggingCube that this episode had a lot of potential for Colby-whump (Blowback was another one she had pointed out as well). I had to agree although I don't think I whumped Colby enough, but that's okay because I have plenty of opportunity to injure and heal Colby :D Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.**

 **Warning: un-betaed.**

Thirty-six hours

Hour 31:

Colby Granger as he ran into the tent after hearing his partner, David Sinclair, had gone into the train wreck to save William, a little boy trapped and in danger of respiratory arrest due to his asthma. Colby knew he should've kept a closer eye on David. Ever since he started communicating with the boy and his mother he was digging a deeper hole for himself. David was too emotionally invested in this case. Colby saw the signs but just like everyone else, he was exhausted and knew they couldn't do anything until a safe passage to the boy and Jeffrey Knight could be formed. Clearly, everyone was working too slowly for David and now he was inside the train trapped along with the remaining two survivors. David was alive but he wouldn't be able to find his way back out, especially after the most recent collapse. Charlie was speaking in the mathematical terms he didn't understand again. Colby wasn't in the mood for this. He needed to get to his partner now. _David, if you come out of this alive, I'm going to kill you!_

Colby got the gist of what Charlie was saying, "All right, tell us where to make a hole. I'll go in on a cable and I'll pull him out."

Don nodded, it was their best bet. "Be careful." He ordered his Agent before letting him leave. He stayed with Charlie while Colby went to get himself geared up.

"I'm sorry. I tried to work as fast as I could." Charlie rubbed his tired eyes. This situation was mentally draining. "I should've stopped him."

"You couldn't have, Charlie." Don knew it was true because David could be stubborn at times. He should have David written up for being reckless but he couldn't be sure that he wouldn't have done the same thing if he was here talking to that little boy and comforting his mother. "David did what he had to do."

* * *

Colby hung in the harness as the rescue workers maneuvered him into position. "Okay, stop." He directed once he was above the hole in the wreckage. "All right, guys, down easy; let me down easy." He tried to get a stable foothold before undoing the harness but it was still a clumsy entrance into the wreckage. The metal creaked at the extra weight Colby placed on the pile. When it settled and felt as if the pile was stable again, Colby started moving in the direction Charlie gave him. Crawling through the twisted metal container wasn't easy, metal piece stuck out from every direction. He repeated the directions in his head and followed them to the T but hit a dead end. _Strange, Charlie is never wrong with his calculations._ He frowned when he smelt something through the mask. He shouldn't be smelling anything, the mask is suppose to filter the gases and as far he knew, the gas hasn't reached a critical level yet. "Guys, I'm at a dead end." He told Don and Charlie, choosing to ignore the smell. He remembered Nikki telling him that the gas was sweet smelling, but this smell was different.

* * *

"No,that can't be." Charlie was sure of his calculations, "You must've taken a wrong turn."

* * *

Colby would've agreed, except he knew he didn't take a wrong turn. He was as confident in his own skills as he was in Charlie's equations. "Well, I did exactly what you said. Nine straight in, six left 30 degrees. Seven right 15 degrees."

* * *

Those were the instructions he had given. If Colby remembered correctly then that would mean...He sighed when he figured it out. "Colby, are you counting in meters?"

* * *

Colby exhaled, he should've double checked that with Charlie. "That's the problem. I'm counting in yards. I'll go back and do it right."

* * *

"Well, you don't have to go back to the beginning." Charlie easily converted the measurements and made the necessary adjustments. "Just go to the first juncture and add 3.28 feet."

* * *

Colby nodded, "Yeah, give or take .28 feet, got it." He remained calm because he knew a cool head in situation like these could mean a difference between life and death.

* * *

"And then recount from there." Charlie was smacking himself over the mistake.

* * *

"Will do." Colby assured him.

* * *

"I should have double-checked that." Charlie berated himself as well as cursed the fact that the U.S.A refused to use the metric system.

Don shook his head, "It's all right. It's all right. Everyone's exhausted." He looked at the screen where Colby was. "Colby knows what he's doing. This won't set him back…"

 _"Ahhh…"_ Don and Charlie jumped at the gasp they heard over the radio following by a small crash.

"Colby, what's wrong?" Charlie asked, concerned.

* * *

"I'm fine." Colby reassured him, as he looked down at his left side. The metal under him had buckled under his weight, causing him to drop a couple of inches. It didn't put him off course or cause any more obstacles but a sharp piece of metal cut through his protective jumpsuit, slicing into his side. "I'm fine." He took a quick looked and determined it wasn't bleeding enough to warrant being pulled out. Anyway, he was almost there. He could hear David's voice reassuring the boy. "All right, I see him." Charlie and Don sighed in relief. "David." He called out.

"Thank you, God. Thank you." Jeffrey was weeping at Colby's voice. He was saved.

"What took you so long, man?" David words wasn't quite as grateful, but his expression told Colby that he was. "I don't know how to get out of here."

Colby smiled, "Don't worry. I left us bread crumbs."

"We need to keep this mask on his face." David said of the boy.

"I brought an inhaler." Colby pulled it out of his pocket.

David smiled in relief, thankful for Colby's forward thinking. He should've have brought it with him in the first place but he was too hell-bent on getting to the boy that he didn't think about anything else. "Okay, breathe in through that, okay?" The inhaler freed up the mask for Jeffrey Knight to use.

"Why don't you ease him on over here?" Colby suggested. The movement caused more of the pile to shift. They paused each time something moved or creaked. As soon as William was securely in Colby's arms David turned to Jeffrey.

"Okay, Mr Knight, it's your turn, sir. I'm gonna hand you this mask. I want you to put it on your face, okay?" David spoke gently to the injured man who fought hard to keep himself and William alive.

"Thank you. Thank you."

"All right, guys, we're coming out, okay?" Colby informed Don so that the rescue workers were ready to extract him.

* * *

"Okay, good job." Don squeezed the bridge of his nose. "You do that."

Charlie looked ready to fall asleep but something about the trains crashing niggled at him. He pictured himself driving and braking and then it hit him. "Hey, go home and get some rest." Don told him.

"I know what happened." Charlie got up and grabbed himself a cup of coffee. Don couldn't believe Charlie's brain was still working. "Even without the switch the trains still should've stopped in time."

"That's what the conductor said." Don turned to him, a little more alert again. He was beginning to think this was just a bad accident but he may be able to arrest someone after all.

"The conductor works with Maths. The train must've been heavier than he thought making him calculate incorrectly." Charlie told Don.

"Well that I can check." Don picked up the phone to find out exactly what was on that train.

"See you guys on the outside." It was more of a command for David more than anything else. Colby has already had enough scares today to shorten his lifespan significantly.

* * *

It was a difficult trip back out of the wreckage with William in his arms. His side started to protest at the movements but there was nothing he could do about it until he got outside. Aside from the pain, he didn't feel any adverse effect, which told him there was no significant blood loss. "Almost there, William. You have been really brave." The words to the boy were gentle and reassuring. "Your father would be so proud of you and your mother is right outside." Colby put William into a harness and hooked them both to the cable. "Okay, pull us out, guys." He winced as he was lifted, the harness putting pressure on his wound. "Easy does it."

It was a relief to hit the ground and hand over William to the rescue workers and his mother. This wasn't the end of the nightmare for the mother and son. They lost a husband and father today but for now, watching their reunion was enough for Colby.

"Great job, Colb." Colby turned to find his boss. Don shook his hand, "Get yourself cleaned up. I have someone I have to arrest."

Colby didn't know whom Don was talking about and right now, he didn't care. He saw Charlie come out of the tent and headed over to him, shaking his hand as he slapped him on the back. "Great job."

"Yeah, yeah. Killed my bots, man." Charlie made a half-hearted complaint. They both watched as David reached the ground with Jeffrey.

"Yeah, well, they all deserve Purple Hearts." Colby joked, "Put little badges on the next ones."

"Yeah, armor 'em a little better."

Colby nodded, though he was more focused on David then the conversation. "Yeah."

David walked over to them. "Sorry, Charlie. I had to do it."

Charlie waved away the apology. "No sweat, man. I was ready to go in there myself."

David and Colby exchanged amused looks. They knew Charlie was tough but he still had a lot to learn before he could participate in fieldwork. Colby started shrugging off his jumpsuit. "Come on, let's get out of here." He gasped as pulled his left arm out of the sleeve.

"What's wrong?" David asked, checking his friend over.

"Colby, you're bleeding." Charlie gently pushed Colby's left arm out of the way and pointed at the blood on his shirt.

"When did that happen?" David helped Colby the rest of the way out of the overalls.

Charlie looked around for a medic. "Hey!" He waved to get the attention of a medic who was packing up to leave. The man saw him and jogged over with a kit. "We have an injured man here."

"Charlie, it's just a scratch." Colby groaned as the medic came over.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but a scratch doesn't bleed that much." Charlie shook his head at Colby's mucho attitude.

Colby lifted his arm, giving the medic better access to the wound. He felt his shirt lift, rolling his eyes at David who glared at him. "Don't give me that look. I'm not the one who ran into an unstable wreckage without a map or a plan." Colby accused his partner.

"And not telling anyone about an injury is so much smarter." David returned, "How is he…" David read the nametag on the medic's shirt, "Steve?"

"Well, it stopped bleeding but considering we've been dealing with a toxic chemical here I'm going to take precautions and have you decontaminated before going to the hospital for a toxicology test and stitches." Steve told them.

Colby groaned, "I'm really tired and I can barely feel it, is that…"

"What's going on?" Don returned from arresting Richard Cory, CEO of Desert Pacific Rail, to find a medic taking a look at his agent. He looked down at the blood on Colby's shirt. "What happened?" He moved Colby's arm out of the way to get a better look.

Colby sighed, knowing he couldn't get out of this now that Don was here. "I snagged it on a piece of metal trying to get to David."

Don shook his head, "Were you planning on telling us?"

Colby shrugged, "I almost forgot about it until now."

Don looked between David and Colby, in disbelief. "You two are going to give me an aneurysm one day." He turned to the medic. "Do what you have to do and don't listen to a word he says. He tends to lie when he's injured." Colby blanched at that, but didn't dare to say a word. David tried to stifle his laugh.

Steve nodded, "Come with me, sir." He led Colby over to the tent they had set up for decontamination.

"We'll see you at the hospital, Colby." David called out.

"Okay, let's head back to the office for a shower and then we'll go to the hospital." Don turned to Charlie. "Go home and rest. You're exhausted. Good job today."

Charlie nodded, "Let me know what the doctor says about Colby."

"I will." Don promised.

* * *

Colby fell asleep on the bed waiting for the toxicology result when a discomfort in his chest woke him. He would have ignored it and kept sleeping, considering he hadn't slept for over two days now but the discomfort graduated to more of an ache. He rubbed his chest and took a deep breath, wincing at the pain it caused. "Damn it." A nurse who just finished tending to the patient in the next bed, turned at his soft curse.

"Are you all right, Sir?" Tabitha asked as she picked up his chart.

"Um…" He shut his eyes when the pain grew more intense with every breath he took. "My chest…hurts." It felt like he couldn't take in enough air. "Having…trouble breathing."

"Okay." Tabitha pulled an oxygen mask over Colby's nose and mouth and turned on the tank. "Just relax and breathe normally. I'm going to page Dr Meyers." She knew this was something to take seriously after looking at his chart. This man was one of the rescuers from the train wreckage. They needed to be careful if he was exposed to dangerous levels of methyl isocyanate. Until the doctor arrived, oxygen was the best way of combating the effects of the toxic chemical.

Colby was already feeling better after ten minutes on the oxygen but the pain in his chest didn't go away with the breathing difficulties. "Agent Granger." Colby pushed himself up when Dr Meyers arrived. "You're having respiratory problems." He gently sat Colby up and listened to his breathing. "Breathe normally, Agent…"

"It's Colby." Colby pulled the mask off to talk.

Dr Meyers smiled and pushed the mask back on. "Colby, just breathe normally for me." He frowned at the wetness of the sounds he was hearing. "I'm going to order a CT Scan and hopefully get a better idea of what might be wrong." Colby closed his eyes. He was ready to get out of here once the toxicology results showed he was fine. "How's your side?" Colby opened his eyes and moved his hand over the wound there before giving the doctor a thumb up. "That's good. Someone will be here to take you down to radiology." He turned to the nurse. "I want him on a monitor until he's ready to go down to radiology." The hospital was hectic due to the train wreck and radiology was banked up due to many victims breathing in the toxic fumes. Having Colby on a monitor meant they would be warned if his condition deteriorates.

"Is there anyone I can call for you?" Colby shook his head. Don and David were on their way anyway. There was no point worrying them.

* * *

An hour later Don and David arrived at the hospital. They weren't too worried considering Colby looked fine when they left him. It felt good to have a shower and get into clean clothes after the day and a half they just had. Don walked over to the nurses' station. "Hi, I'm looking for my agent; Colby Granger. He was brought in for a blood test and to get some stitches."

"Just one moment, Sir." The lady typed in Colby's name. "He's waiting in bay seven for a CT Scan." She stood and pointed to the curtained area down the aisle. "It's the…" She paused when a fast beeping came from the bay she was pointing at. A scurry of nurses and doctors were crowding around the bed.

"Please tell me that's bay 6." David pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

Don and David rushed over as soon as the words left the nurses mouth. "What's going on?"

A nurse pushed them back, "Sir, you need to step back and let us work."

Don managed to get a glimpse of Colby, pale and unconscious, before the curtains were pulled back and he lost his view. "He's my agent. What's happening?"

"He went into respiratory arrest. His lungs have stopped working." The nurse, Tabitha, told them, pushing them both a step back. "Doctor Connell is our best E.R. doctor. He'll do everything in his power to help him."

Don was astounded and he could see that David wasn't that much more clued in. They came here ready to pick Colby up not watch him stop breathing! "He was fine when he came in, right?"

"He complained of chest pains and breathing difficulties about an hour ago." Tabitha told them, "Oxygen was helping him at first. He was waiting to get taken down to radiology for a CT Scan wen he stopped breathing."

"Why weren't we called an hour ago?" David accused.

"He didn't ask to call anyone." Tabitha didn't take David's tone personally.

"Of course he didn't." Don shook his head, "Probably didn't want us to worry."

"Yeah, he did a damn good job of that." David was shaking. Don knew he was focusing his anger because he didn't want to think about what was happening behind that curtain.

* * *

"I need to intubate before we send him down to x-rays. We can't wait for a CT." Dr Connell grabbed the intubator from the tray. "Hold his head back."

"40 bpm and dropping." The nurse announced.

"Tube." The doctor held out his hand. The tube slid in smoothly. "Bag." He squeezed the respirator bag at a steady pace waiting as he looked at the patient's stats. The pulse rate started rising again.

"65 bpm and holding."

"Take him down to radiology and page Dr Meyers." Dr Connell pulled off his masked, letting himself breathe. Cases like these always got the heart pumping. Nobody liked to lose patients but it was especially hard when the patient was a law enforcement officer and in this case, a rescue worker as well. As the curtains opened and Colby was rolled out, the first thing Dr Connell saw were two men using every bit of their will power not to follow the patient. "He's stable for now."

Don turned to the doctor and held out his hand. "Don Eppes, I'm his supervisor. What happened?"

"I can't say for certain but I think it's not an unreasonable guess that he was exposed to a high level of methyl isocyanate." Dr Connell told them.

David shook his head, confused, "We were both in that wreckage and I'm fine. The levels were at 2.8ppm at the most. Even William and Jeffrey weren't affected."

Dr Connell shrugged, "Like I said, it's only a guess but I can't think of any other reason why a perfectly healthy man in his mid-thirties would have breathing problems."

"He wasn't breathing on his own." David said of the tube he saw in Colby's mouth.

"No, he wasn't." Dr Connell sighed, knowing patients always looked worse when they were intubated. "But that doesn't mean he won't be tomorrow. His lungs may just need a little assistance while it heals. His pulse was steady and strong once we got him breathing again." He took a good look at the agents in front of him. "I mean no disrespect when I say this but you two don't look much better than he does. Why don't you go rest in the waiting room? I'll have a nurse come and get you when we know more."

"Thanks, Doc."

* * *

 **One hour later…**

Tabitha found Don and David slouched in the plastic chairs in the waiting room. They were so exhausted that even their worry over their friend couldn't keep them awake. She contemplated letting them sleep, however, she's seen how anxious they were for news on their friend. A gentle hand on the shoulder was all it took for Colby's supervising agent to wake up. He looked around, a little disoriented before he focused on the young nurse. "David!" His hand went out and slapped the other agent on the chest, shocking him awake. "How's Colby?" Don asked, letting David catch up on his own.

"Dr Meyers is waiting for you in room 524. He'll fill you in on what's happening with Colby." Tabitha led the agents to Colby's room. Don and David followed, anxious about what they were going to find out.

They entered the room and were disappointed to see Colby still on a ventilator. Dr Meyers looked up from his chart and smiled at the tired agents. "I know it looks bad but this is more of a precaution." He held out his hand to Don and David. "I'm Dr Meyers, Colby's toxicologist."

"What's the prognosis, Doc?" Don asked after shaking the doctor's hand, not taking his eye off Colby in the bed.

"He has what we call chemical pneumonitis. It's an inflammation of the tissues in the lungs due to inhalation of toxic chemicals. His blood work shows that he had significant levels of methyl isocyanate in his lungs." Dr Meyers didn't need to ask where he inhaled it. "He's developed a fever in the last quarter of an hour which is common with chemical pneumonia. I've started him on an IV to deliver fluids and steroids into his system. It'll help with opening the airwaves. His lungs are under a lot of stress, which is why he went into respiratory arrest. I've put him in an induced coma just for 24 hours so that his lungs have the time to heal. As soon as he's awake I will take him off it."

"And he'll be fine after that." That's all David needed to know.

"I am optimistic that he will have a full recovery but he'll need an inhaler for a month or so." Dr Meyers could see that they were still concerned. "He will need to be on desk duty during that month but I don't see why he won't be able to return to active duty after that." He smiled at their relief upon hearing the news. For law enforcement officers, that was always the ultimate goal after being hospitalised; _will they be returning to active duty?_

"Thanks, Doc."

"Don't stay too long. It's long past visiting hours." Dr Meyers left the agents to sit with their friend.

David took Colby's hand in his own. It was warm. "I still don't get it. I was in there longer than he was."

"We won't really know what happened but he did have a little trouble getting to you at first. He could've wondered into a part of the train that was more exposed to the leak." Don reached over, laying a hand on Colby's brow. "Let's hope the IV does its job."

"This is my fault." David whispered. Don's eyes flew to his friend. "If I didn't charge in there before…"

"You did what you had to." Don interrupted.

"No, I acted on emotions." He looked down at Colby. "He warned me against getting too emotional but I did anyway. William was going to die and I couldn't let that happen. Now Colby's the one in trouble and I can't do anything about it!"

"Colby's a good soldier." Don smiled proudly down at his friend. "He doesn't let this job get to him. He'll probably be doing this long after we're done with it." He sighed when David didn't answer him. "Let's go. We all have tomorrow off. Go home and sleep. Colby won't be awake until tomorrow night. We'll come back then." David hesitated. "You haven't slept in over 48 hours. You're going home to bed." Don ordered.

David rubbed his eyes, knowing Don was right. He was ready to drop. Squeezing Colby's hand, he said his goodbye with the promise to return when he wakes up.

Before leaving Don made sure the doctor didn't wake Colby until they were there with him.

* * *

After driving David home, Don drove over to his brother's house, as it was closer. He entered quietly and found Charlie asleep on the couch with Amita. Don dropped into the armchair next to them and was asleep before he could even make himself more comfortable.

It was late afternoon when Charlie woke up. Amita left a note for him to tell him she had gone to work. He rubbed his eyes, getting up to find something to eat when he realised someone else was in the room with him. He frowned at his brother's sleeping form in the armchair. "Don, wake up." He shook his brother. "Don!"

Don jolted awake, "What?"

Charlie chuckled, "Why didn't you sleep in your old room?"

Don stretched out the creaks in his back, shoulders and neck. "I couldn't make it up the stairs."

Charlie nodded, sympathising with his brother. "Yeah, I couldn't be bothered either. How's Colby?"

"What time is it?" Don looked at his watch. "Wow…it's almost four?"

Charlie narrowed his eyes at his big brother. Something was making Don nervous. He always looked at his watch when he was worried or stressed. "You didn't answer my question."

Don sighed, knowing he couldn't put it off. He didn't want his brother to worry. "He's at the hospital. I'm going to head back there after I get something to eat."

"How bad was that cut?" Charlie asked, incredulously. "Did it get infected?"

"The cut was fine. He inhaled enough methyl isocyanate to damage his lungs. Doctor put him on a ventilator." Don watched as his brother massaged his forehead with his fingers in disbelief.

"He was wearing a mask and the levels didn't get high enough to be lethal." Charlie shook his head, "I made the calculations myself."

"It's just bad luck, Charlie and the doctor says he'll be fine."

"He's on a ventilator! How is that fine?"

"Hey, hey…" Don got up and put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Calm down. What's wrong?"

"It doesn't make sense." Charlie hated when things didn't make sense. Maths was always so precise for him. He liked it because he was working with absolutes. When things didn't make sense then he had to make sense of them. "He went through the same path David did." Suddenly it dawned on Charlie and for the first time since Charlie had become a consultant for the FBI, Don wished his brother's mind didn't work so fast. "I should've double checked the measurements with him. We're in America, of course Colby would assume I was talking in yards."

"We don't know for sure what happened?"

"No, but how else could Colby have been exposed to more of the chemical toxin than David." Charlie hung his head back and groaned. "This is my fault."

Don groaned, "Between you and David, you can make Pearl Harbour your fault!"

"If I had double checked…"

"IF! I hate that word. IF you had double-checked the measurement… IF David hadn't rushed in there." Don shook his head. "IF Colby were awake right now he would slap you both over the head." He lowered his voice when he saw how distressed his brother was, still. He sighed; only one person could alleviate his guilt. "Come on." He turned his brother towards the kitchen. "Let's get something to eat and then we'll both head over there."

* * *

David was already there when Don and Charlie arrived. They frowned at the empty bed space in the room where Colby was supposed to be. They would've feared the worst if David didn't look so relaxed. "Tell me you didn't sneak back here after I dropped you off." Don accused instead of asking about Colby.

David chuckled, another sign that Colby was fine. "No, I got here about half an hour ago."

Don nudged his chin at the empty area, "Where's Colb?"

"They've taken him down for another chest x-ray. If his lungs have healed enough they might take him off the ventilator early."

Don gave his brother's shoulder a squeeze, smiling, "That's great!" He was hoping the news would ease his brother's guilt but the genius still looked worried. There was no point trying to talk to him. The best person for that job was Colby.

* * *

Colby was rolled in and the equipment set up again. The only difference was that they didn't reattach the ventilator. Dr Meyers was all smiles when he entered the room. "Colby lungs recovered faster than I expected them to. He was breathing on his own down in radiology and the x-rays shows the contusions are healing at a healthy pace. He started coming out of his coma around lunch time so I've been keeping him sedated." The doctor looked at his watch. "If I'm correct, he should be waking up any minute now." Don was impressed when Colby started stirring. Dr Meyers grinned. He liked to do that. It didn't work often because people tended to react differently to sedatives but when it did, family members were always impressed. It also gave them confidence that their loved ones were in good hands. "Excuse me." He needed to move pass Don and Charlie to get to Colby.

* * *

Colby felt like he was trying to navigate through thick fog. Everything felt heavy. There were people talking around him but they were murmurs more than anything else. Someone squeezed his hand firmly. It gave Colby something to focus on. Slowly, awareness returned to his senses. Voices were becoming clearer, the hand in his remained, then he felt something in his throat. It was uncomfortable…no, it was choking him.

* * *

David grabbed Colby's right hand when it flew up to the tube in his throat in a panic. "It's okay, Colby, breathe."

* * *

Colby stopped himself from struggling when he heard the deep, gentle voice of his partner. David was here, which meant he wasn't in any danger. However, he still didn't like whatever was down his throat. "Colby?" Another voice but this one he didn't recognise. "I'm Dr Meyers. Can you open your eyes?" Colby frowned. He didn't realise that his eyes were still closed. It was something else he could focus on instead of his throat. He concentrated on opening his heavy eyelids.

* * *

David smiled when Colby's eyes fluttered opened. "Finally." Colby frowned at him. "Don't worry. Just listen to the doctor." He looked at someone to Colby's right.

Colby turned his head to find the doctor. He recognised the face. "Colby, I'm going to remove the tube in your throat. Blink once if you understand." Colby blinked. "Okay. On the count of three, I want you to cough." Blink. "Excellent." A nurse came in with a tray. "On three. One…two…three." Colby coughed and then shut his eyes as the tube was pulled out. He kept on coughing after it was out, which made his throat feel like it was being torn apart. The coughing fit lasted a good thirty seconds before it allowed Colby to breathe again. It left him exhausted. "It's nothing to worry about." Dr Meyers appeased the panicked people in the room. "The coughing is apart of the recovery process, although it is painful." He said sympathetically at the patient who was looking a little tortured. "Nurse, give him 400mg of acetaminophen through the IV." He wrote it down on his chart. "Your throat will be sore for a few days, as for your lungs, they'll take up to a month. I'm guessing you feel like an elephant is sitting on it?" Colby nodded. "I'm afraid that's going to last another week or so. You're going to need to fight the impulse to only take small breaths. Deep breaths will fight the pneumonia." Colby frowned at him, _pneumonia?_ "You've developed chemical pneumonia from inhaling a large amount of methyl isocyanate." Colby sagged back against the bed. _So the smell was the gas after all._

Don observed his friend's expression. Something tells him Colby knows where he was contaminated. "I'm going to leave you to your friends. They've been very patient already. I'll come by to check on your progress in a few hours." Colby nodded his thanks.

Don walked up to Colby's right side with Charlie next to him. "Scared the hell out of us."

"Sorry." It was barely a whisper and caused more pain than it was worth.

"Here." Don guided a straw into Colby mouth, smiling as Colby sighed at the relief the water brought. "Now." Colby exhaled wearily at Don's tone of voice. "I'm going to give you a scenario and you can just nod, if I'm in the ballpark." Colby sighed while David and Charlie looked confused. "You knew something was wrong when you hit that dead end in the pile." Colby nodded. "But you didn't think to say anything?" Colby shrugged and then tapped his nose. "You smelled something and you didn't think it would be the leak considering what we're doing?" Don was not happy. Colby looked at David, asking for his help. David was there when Nikki described the gas.

"It didn't smell sweet?" David guessed what Colby was trying to say. Colby nodded. "Nikki told us we should run if we start smelling something sweet." David shrugged, "Guess it didn't smell sweet to Colby." Colby turned to his boss to see of he was still in trouble.

"All right! Turn off those damn puppy eyes." Don gave up and it seemed Colby wasn't deliberately putting himself in danger, so there was nothing to be angry about. Colby's grin was interrupted by another coughing fit that lasted longer than the last one. He groaned once it was over, turning on his side, feeling miserable.

David gave a sigh as he put a hand on Colby's shoulder. He felt for his partner. "It'll get better."

Charlie felt even guiltier at seeing how miserable Colby was. "Hey Colby, I'm sorry. I should've told you I was talking in metres." Colby slowly turned back over to face Charlie. It was clear by his expression that he was confused. "You ended up in a more exposed part of the pile because I gave you the directions in metres instead of yards." He wanted to talk but his throat was too sore, he grimaced at the pain of just thinking about talking.

"It's not your fault, Charlie." Colby smiled in relief when David spoke for him. "If it's anybody's fault, it's mine". Don wanted to laughed when Colby's smile faded and he glared at his partner. "If I waited another hour or so you would've found the way in and Colby wouldn't have had to go in after me."

Colby looked between his partner and his friend. He wanted to deck them but that required too much physical strength that he didn't have at this moment. "Something tells me Colb's not too happy with the two of you." Charlie and David looked down to find Colby glaring at them. He clenched his jaw and pointed at himself, sharply and forcefully. Don smiled, "It was his choice to go in there." He pointed between him and Charlie. "I'm just guessing but I think he's saying checking the instructions goes both ways. He should've checked the measurements with you." Colby smiled at Don and nodded, telling him he guessed correctly. He raised his eyebrows at Charlie and held up his thumb, asking if Charlie was good.

Charlie smiled and nodded. "Yeah, all right."

Colby turned to David and held up his hand to David, waiting for him to respond. He knew David would understand what he was saying. David looked at it before gripping it in his. "I've got your back too." He said softly and just like that, without needing to say a word, Colby took away the guilt that wasn't theirs to bear in the first place. Don was right; only Colby could rid them of their guilt.

* * *

 **Two days later…**

Colby entered Charlie's house with Don behind him carrying his overnight bag. His way was blocked when he tried to turn back around and go back out the door. "Don." Colby's voice was still hoarse from the intubation.

"It's just for the week. Dr Meyers want you monitored just in case." Don nodded at the couch. Colby's shoulders slumped as he made his way over dropped into it. It was a bad idea because the jolt launched him into another coughing fit. They've been getting better but it was still painful and always left him tired.

Don pulled out the inhaler the doctor had given him. "Here." When the coughing finally died down, Colby took the inhaler and took in a couple of deep breaths of the medicine. It provided the relief he need. He leaned his head back against the back of the couch and closed his eyes; his forearm came up to rest over them. "Tell me again how you'll be okay at home by yourself?" A pillow launched at him, making him laugh as he caught it. He put the pillow back where it belonged. "Wait here while I find out where my dad is." Don walked through the house calling for his dad. "Dad!" He went to the back door. "Dad!"

Colby heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Hi Mr Eppes." He said when Alan came around the corner. "Thanks for letting me stay."

"I'm beginning to think you live here." Alan said of the accident-prone man. Colby ducked his head, embarrassed.

"DAD!" Don called out as he came out of the games room. "Where is he?"

Colby grinned and pointed to the man in question. "I found him."

"Did you think about checking upstairs?" Alan asked his son.

Don looked at his watch, "It's almost twelve, why would you be upstairs?"

"Well, if it's alright with you, I was setting up your old bedroom for Colby here. That couch is going to do his back in one day." Alan chucked out his chin, daring his son to protest. Don has always liked his room and he appreciated the fact that Charlie and his dad kept it there for him but Alan was right about the couch.

"Mr Eppes, you didn't have to do that. I'm only here for the week." This was one of the reasons why Colby didn't like coming here. Alan tended to go out of his way to make sure he was comfortable.

"And how about in the future? I would like to believe that you won't be hospitalised any time soon but who am I kidding? It's you we're talking about here." Alan spoke with a straight face.

Don burst out laughing, "My dad's got a point."

Colby groaned, giving up. There was no point in arguing with the Eppes in their own home. He's lucky Charlie wasn't here otherwise he'll put him in an equation and work out the probability of him landing back here in the near future. "Thank you, Mr Eppes." He got up and started for the stairs, "If you don't mind I'm going to head up and have a rest."

Don have him a couple of pats on the back as he passed him. "I'll come up with you. I want to see how much of my stuff survived my dad." He ran up after he grabbed Colby's bag.

* * *

Colby opened the door to Don's room. The first thing he saw was a life size cut-out of Alessandra Ambrosio in a bikini in the middle of the room. Colby stepped back and closed the door. "On second thoughts, the couch is really comfortable."

Don frowned at him. "Why?" He tried to step around Colby but Colby took a side step to keep him from getting to the door. "How bad can my room be?"

Colby shook his head, trying to look like everything was normal even though he could never look at Don the same way ever again. "It's fine, but it's the room you grew up in and I don't feel right…"

"Get out of the way." Don gently shoved him aside and opened the door. "What the hell?"

Colby shut his eyes, embarrassed for his boss. He grimaced as he turned around nervously. "She is beautiful. I didn't know you were a fan." Colby didn't know what to say to lessen the embarrassment.

"Very funny, Dad!" Don grabbed the cut-out and threw it down the stairs. They could hear Alan laughing in the kitchen. He shook his head in disbelief at his dad's immaturity. "Where in the world did he get that anyway?" Colby was chuckling, relieved he didn't just find out something kinky about his boss. "You didn't really think that was mine, did you?"

Colby shrugged, "Hey, in our job, I've seen more disturbing things. I was a teenager once as well."

"That was Alessandra Ambrosio. I grew up with Elle MacPherson!" Don shook his head.

"Elle MacPherson…so that's who you…" A pillow in the face interrupted his sentence.

"I'm still your boss, Granger."

Colby laughed as he picked up the pillow and dropped it on the bed. "So this is your room."

Don grinned as he put the pillow behind him and laid back. His dad didn't change anything except for the bed sheets. "Yeah, what do you think?"

Colby nodded and he looked around at the baseball trophies and model cars. He smiled. "It's not much different from my room, except I have wrestling trophies and the models are army tanks and fighters."

Don got off the bed, "All right, I'm heading back to the office. I'll see you tonight. Rest. Do you have your inhaler?"

Colby pulled it out of his pocket. "Find it a little ironic that we saved a little boy with asthma and now I need one."

Don slapped him on his arm on the way out. "It's just for a month or so and then you're back to helping me catch the bad guys."

"Thanks…" He gestured to the room, "for all this. I know I never sound like I appreciate it, but I do."

Don grinned and nodded, "Get some rest." He closed the door.

Colby toed off his shoes and laid down on the bed. He like his condo but Charlie's house always gave him a feeling of a real home. He remembered the night Charlie called them all over for dinner and they ended up eating waffles. What was it that Amita said? _It's Charlie's way of saying that your family is whoever you want to eat waffles with._ Don, Charlie, Alan, Amita, Larry, Megan and David. They were his family as well and it was a privilege to be considered theirs.

 **The End.**


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